MOUNTAIN RIDGE MINER FOOTBALL

Frostburg, Maryland - Mountain Ridge has outscored Southern, 202-7, over the past three seasons. The Miners' 84-0 rout of the Rams in 2021 during that span is believed to be the most-lopsided contest in the history of Maryland high school football. The next-closest contender was in 1952, when Allegany, coached by Ray Lester, defeated Ridgeley, 81-0, at Fort Hill stadium. ... Tonight will be the debut of two head coaches inheriting programs in very different situations. ... The Miners turn to Nathan Shipe, who takes over for Ryan Patterson. Patterson finished as the winningest coach in Mountain Ridge history and led the Miners to a 34-5 record, three straight 10-win seasons and three straight state championship games over his final three years. Shipe previously coached the Miners' junior varsity program. ... Southern begins a new era under Dave McLaughlin, whose hiring has renewed life into a program that was forced to disband its varsity team after two games in 2023. The Rams now have more than 50 players in their program. McLaughlin coached the 2014 Oakland Rams to the Cumberland Area Youth Football League championship. ... Mountain Ridge will field a mostly new team after losing 16 seniors, including 2023 co-Offensive Player of the Year Will Patterson, who participated in 40 touchdowns for the Miners at quarterback and is now at Shepherd. Junior Cobe Penick is slated to be the next signal-caller. ... Eli Sibley and Owen Bannon are back at receivers in the Miners' spread offense. The duo combined for 439 yards and seven scores last year.